An electric apparatus equipped in a motor vehicle is connected to the other electric apparatus or an electric power unit via a wire harness obtained by bundling insulated wires so as to construct an electric circuit. At this time, the wire harness is connected to the electric apparatus and the electric power unit by the connectors which are installed respectively.
Various crimp terminals have been proposed as the crimp terminal provided in the connector mentioned above, and a conductor member disclosed in Patent Document 1 is one of the crimp terminals mentioned above.
The conductor member disclosed in the Patent Document 1 is constructed by a wire connection portion which is provided with a connection surface connected to the other member and corresponds to a base material, and a fastening portion which is protruded in relation to the wire connection portion and fastens a tip portion of an electric wire.
The fastening portion has an insertion hole which can insert a tip portion of the electric wire thereto, and is formed into a tubular shape which is open in a tip side of a protruding direction. The connection of the electric wire to the conductive member in the Patent Document 1 can be achieved by inserting the tip portion of the electric wire to the insertion hole of the fastening portion, and caulking the fastening portion in this state.
In the meantime, in the case where the electric wire connected to the crimp terminal is the insulated wire obtained by coating the conductor with an insulating cover, there is generally taken measures to prevent the conductor tip from being exposed to an outer portion from a base end side of a caulking portion after caulking, by caulking by the caulking portion in a state of not only inserting only the conductor tip exposing the conductor by peeling off the insulating cover in the tip side in the insulated wire to the insertion hole of the caulking portion, but also inserting the conductor tip portion which is a portion closer to a rear side than the conductor tip and forms the tip portion of the insulating cover, to the insertion hole together with the conductor tip.
However, in the case where the conductor tip portion is inserted to the caulking portion in “conductor member” disclosed in the Patent Document 1 together with the conductor tip, it is necessary to diameter-reduce the portion corresponding to the conductor tip in a long length direction of the caulking portion with a greater diameter reduction rate according to the caulking, the caulking portion being previously formed with a large diameter for allowing insertion of the conductor tip portion, since the conductor tip has a smaller diameter by a thickness of the insulating cover than the conductor tip portion.
As a result, the caulking portion cannot be closely contacted firmly with the conductor tip after being caulked, an air gap tends to be generated in an inner portion of the caulking portion, and there has been a problem that stable conductivity cannot be obtained between the conductor of the electric wire and the pressure-bonding section of the crimp terminal.